San Bernardino County supervisors Tuesday OK’d funding allocations for programs to support mental health services, housing assistance for residents experiencing homelessness and health care for foster youth.
The county Behavioral Health Department has agreed to an approximately $8.5 million contract with Valley Star Behavioral Health Inc. to offer mobile crisis response services effective Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2028.
Under the agreement Valley Star and the Behavioral Health Department will provide after-hours crisis support from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. 365 days a year, according to a county statement. Services include telehealth, text and phone-based interventions in the county’s West Valley, Central/East Valley, High Desert, East Desert and Mountain areas.
The service aims to support individuals, families and caregivers experiencing mental health emergencies and will be available 365 days a year.
Behavioral Health officials anticipate serving about 1,200 clients annually at an average cost of more than $2,300 per client. Funding for the services is from the state Mental Health Services Act and the federal Medi-Cal Mobile Crisis Benefit, with no direct financial cost to the county.
Officials said the investment in mobile crisis response services helps to ensure “equitable and accessible behavioral health care services across all communities to improve public health outcomes and strengthen collaborative systems of care.”
The board approved the county Public Health Department’s acceptance of more than $6.5 million from the state to administer the Health Care Program for Children in Foster Care. The program started in July and runs through June 30, 2026.
The board also authorized the submission of Public Health’s 2025–26 Integrated Systems of Care Division plan, which calls for an estimated $5.4 million for the current fiscal year to support medical, dental, mental health and “developmental coordination services” for around 6,700 kids in the county’s foster care system.
“The program will provide public health nurse case management and interdisciplinary collaboration with Children and Family Services to connect foster youth with the services they need,” according to the county. “Costs will be reimbursed based on actual expenditures, up to the full allocation amount, and no local match is required.”
The county Office of Homeless Services is set to receive an approximately $298,000 Emergency Solutions Grant from the state for “rapid rehousing and homelessness prevention services” countywide. Behavioral Health administers the program with a grant term that starts Sept. 1 and runs through Aug. 31, 2027.
ESG funding supports housing relocation and stabilization services, short- and medium-term rental assistance and administrative costs, officials said. Program services will be coordinated with existing Continuum of Care efforts.
